The Seduction of the Movies

STORY BY CHAD MASON-AUBERTIN

September means back to school, cooler weather and for Torontonians, a chance to see the likes of Ryan Reynolds in your neighbourhood bar or Reese Witherspoon browsing through the racks of your favourite boutique. Its TIFF time.

For those who don’t want to navigate hoards of screaming fans or risk a close call with a certain Hogtown mayor, have no fear.

Monday Night at the Movies, Oakville’s own film festival, is co-funded and partnered with Film Circuit, a division of Toronto’s most prestigious festival. It rolled out its ninth season this week.

The festival will screen movies from last year’s TIFF lineup as well work by Sheridan’s own.

With its healthy ties to the entertainment industry, Sheridan College is never afraid to showcase the storytellers of tomorrow.

Blue Voice, the first of many animation shorts in this year’s festival, was directed by Sheridan graduate Golbahar Khazraei, who completed the Computer Animation program last April.

Sheridan grad Golbahar Khazraei short Blue Voice is the first Sheridan animation to be celebrated at this year’s festival.

Khazraei, who is currently with her family in Iran, is thrilled her work is being shown on the big screen and wishes she could attend.

“I am honoured that my short film has been chosen to be screened in a movie theatre where it will have a bigger audience,” said Khazraei in an email.

“I tried to convey a message through my animation and I am truly happy that it will be seen by a big audience”

This is the second year Sheridan has participated in the festival.

“We decided to add Sheridan animation shorts at the beginning of each feature film to great appreciation from our audience,” said treasurer Gillian MacInness.

Monday Night at the Movies was originally run by the Oakville Arts Council, but was taken over by volunteers in 2006.

Attending Monday Night at the Movies is not your usual big blockbuster Movie-going experience, said MacInness. “We offer the chance to see great films that you wouldn’t normally see in the regular theatre.”

The panel is presented with a list of hundreds of movies, and once narrowed down, it is passed on to TIFF, which finalizes the viewing.

Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch star in The Grand Seduction, the first film of this season’s Monday Night at the Movies

They try to stay as diverse and multicultural as possible, but still keeping in mind the Oakville population.

Though you might not see any superhero blockbuster at the festival, the selection of films boasts some big names.

Brendan Gleeson, who is widely known in the U.K. has made a career in some of Hollywood’s biggest, such as Gangs of New York and the Harry Potter franchise.

Gleeson stars in Grand Seduction, the first movie on the bill for this season’s Monday Night at the Movies. Grand Seduction is an independent Canadian film based on the Quebecois film of the same name.

The series runs bi-weekly at Cineplex Cinemas Winston Churchill, located at 2081 Winston Park Drive. Tickets are $10 and go on sale at 6:30 p.m. the same Monday. Proceeds after expenses go to various charities.